Tabletop Protective Shield

ABSTRACT

A tabletop protective shield is provided that includes clear panels connected using clear flexible joints therebetween.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 63/109,090 filed on Nov. 3, 2020, the entire contents of which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following relates to protective shields for health and safetyapplications, in particular to a tabletop protective shield, e.g., foruse in a classroom setting.

BACKGROUND

With recent widespread outbreaks of disease or other conditions stemmingfrom viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens, there is an increased desireto provide barriers between humans to avoid the spread of disease. Thesebarriers can include articles of personal protective equipment (PPE) orphysical barriers to limit the airborne spread of a pathogen,particularly when so-called “physical distancing” is difficult or cannotbe maintained. There is an increasing concern with minimizing contact,particularly in public places where pathogens can spread between humanscausing the spread of infections and the like.

Schools, offices and other places where potentially large numbers ofpeople are required to be in proximity to each other may rely on the useof both physical separation (e.g., to maintain physical distancing) andphysical barriers to protect a work area for each person.

A concern with physical barriers is that there could be a reduction invisibility and impediment to the ability to interact with co-workers,other students, or other people in the same environment, even when nextto each other. Moreover, since different environments often usedifferent tables, desks, and workstations, custom barriers may berequired or at least barriers with some flexibility to accommodatedifferent configurations.

SUMMARY

A tabletop protective shield is provided that includes clear panelsconnected using clear flexible joints therebetween. The protectiveshield can therefore be configured to place the panels at various anglesrelative to each other and thus adopt multiple configurations to suitdifferent tabletop surfaces while having a minimum of visualobstructions due to the clear material used in both the panels andjoints.

The protective shield can also include a set of carrying passages (alsoreferred to herein as “hand holes”) near the upper edge of each panelthat align with each other when the panels are folded, to providetransportability to the shield. Moreover, the side panels of the shieldcan be contoured to provide cut outs or passageways for reaching aroundand beyond the side walls of the shield. The protective shield is alsosupported by a set of mounting clips that can be attached to the panelsand include lower surfaces to be temporarily or semi-permanently engagethe tabletop surface.

The protective shield can therefore maintain a physical barrier whileallowing visual interaction, i.e., to avoid the need to lean over oraround the barrier to see and be seen, or to hear and be heard; as wellas some physical interaction, i.e., via the cut outs. That is, theprotective shield acts to contain the student, employee, or other userand the throw of their breath without limiting their ability tocommunicate, allowing social interaction with others in the sameenvironment. These advantages can be particularly important for studentsin a classroom setting.

In one aspect, there is provided a protective shield, comprising atransparent front panel; a pair of transparent side panels; first andsecond clear flexible joints, each joint attaching one edge of the frontpanel to an edge of one of the side panels and including a flexibleportion to permit the side panels to be rotated relative to the frontpanel to configure the protective shield; and a plurality of mountingclips, each mounting clip configured to support a respective one of thepanels and to provide a downwardly facing surface to engage an uppersurface on which the protective shield is placed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described with reference to the appendeddrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tabletop protective shield placed on atabletop.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a tabletop protective shield inisolation.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the tabletop protective shield in a foldedconfiguration.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial perspective view of a portion of atransparent hinge between panels of the tabletop protective shield.

FIG. 5 in an enlarged perspective view of a mounting clip.

FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of the tabletop protective shield.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the tabletop protective shield.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the tabletop protective shield.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the figures, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a tabletopprotective shield 10 positioned atop a desk 12 having an uppertabletop-like surface 14, which may also be referred to as a “desktop”or “tabletop”. It can be appreciated that while examples provided hereinmay refer to desks and tables in a classroom setting, the protectiveshield 10 can be used with any surface in any environment where atransparent physical barrier is desired, for example, offices, retaillocations, restaurants, or at home to name a few.

It can be appreciated from the view in FIG. 1 that a user (e.g.,student, office worker, etc.) can sit at the desk 12 or a table, seatedat a chair (not shown) and use the surface 14 in the normal fashionwhile benefiting from the protective barrier around them. As known inthe art, a number of desks 12 can be arranged together to form a tableallowing multiple users to face each other and interact with oneanother. In such a configuration the protective shield 10 providesmultiple directions of protection because each user has their own shieldon their own desk 12, protecting the user 16 in three directions. Users16 across from each other and beside each other have dual layers ofprotection. For example, each zone of the table provides a first layerfrom the user's shield 10 and a second layer provided by theirneighbor's shield 10. The panels of the protective shield 10 can also besized to extend to different extents to provide additional protectionbetween adjacent users.

Referring now to FIG. 2, further detail of the protective shield 10 willnow be provided. The shield 10 includes a central front facing panel 18(also referred to herein as the “front panel” 18) and a pair of sidepanels 16 a, 16 b, each attached to the front panel 18 along one edgevia transparent, translucent or otherwise “clear” flexible joints 22 a,22 b. In the example shown, a left side panel 16 a is connected to thefront panel 18 a using a first joint 22 a and a right side panel 16 b isconnected to the front panel 18 using a second joint 22 b. The clearflexible joints 22 a, 22 b in this example extend along the entire edgeof adjacent panels 16 a/18, 16 b/18 to provide flexibility while at thesame time providing a protective barrier between an interior zonedefined by the surrounding panels 16 a, 18, 16 b and an exterior zone onthe other side of such panels 16 a, 18, 16 b. In this example, the sidepanels 16 a, 16 b, can include rounded corners along the distal edges,although other profiles are possible. The shield 10 is supported atopthe surface via a set of mounting clips 26, discussed further below.

Near the upper edges of the panels 16 a, 18, 16 b are a set of carryingpassages 20 or “hand holes”. In this example, a first carrying passage20 a is provided in the left side panel 16 a, a second carrying passage20 b is provided in the front panel 18, and a third carrying passage 20c is provided in the right side panel 16 b. As shown in FIG. 3, when thepanels 16 a, 16 b are folded towards each other and against the frontpanel 18, the carrying passages 20 a, 20 b, and 20 c are aligned witheach other to provide a single passage 20 a/20 b/20 c to convenientlypick up and carry the shield 10.

The side panels 16 a, 16 b are also contoured at the lower distal endthereof to provide “cut outs” 24 a and 24 b respectively. The cut outs24 a, 24 b provide a passage for accommodating a user's elbows or handsand permits passing items between adjacent shields 10, e.g., in aclassroom environment.

An enlarged view of a clear flexible joint 22 b is shown in FIG. 4. Itcan be appreciated that the principles discussed here equally apply tothe other clear flexible joint 22 a. The clear joint 22 b includes afirst attachment portion 30 that connects or otherwise attaches to thefront panel 18 and a second attachment portion 32 that connects orotherwise attaches to the right side panel 16 b. The attachment portions30, 32 are flexibly attached to a central portion 34 to provide a hingemechanism to permit the shield 10 to be folded in the manner shown inFIG. 3. As illustrated in this enlarged view, the portions 30, 32, 34 ofthe flexible joint 22 b are “clear”, i.e., transparent, translucent,etc. to inhibit the joint 22 b from becoming an obstruction. In thisway, the flexibility and foldability are provided without overlycompromising the visibility through the shield 10 even when viewingthrough the corner portions thereof.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the panels 16 a, 16 b, 18, are supportedvertically and engaged with the surface 14 using a set of mounting clips26. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a set of three mounting clips26 is used, one on each panel 16 a, 18, 16 b, however, any plurality ofclips 26 could be used. Similarly, a plurality of clips 26 could be usedwith each panel 16 a, 16 b, 18. Each mounting clip 26 acts as a “foot”or “shoe” to provide stability as well as mounting capabilities for theprotective shield 10 to either temporarily or semi-permanently engagethe surface 14 on which it is supported. In this example, the clip 26includes a base 40 from which a pair of spaced walls 42, 44 extendforming a gap 46. The walls 42, 44 have enough resiliency to permit thethickness of the panels 16 a, 16 b, 18 to slide into the gap 46 of theclip 26 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

It can be appreciated that the flexibility of the joints 22 a, 22 b, andthe securability of the mounting clips 26 allows the side panels 16 a,16 b to be relatively closer or wider apart to accommodate differentsurfaces 14 or desk/table/countertop configurations.

Moreover, it can be appreciated that the front and side panels 18, 16 a,16 b, can also include different sizes and proportions from that shownin these examples to provide further flexibility and configurations.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8, example non-limiting but suitabledimensions are shown to illustrate one size and configuration for theshield 10. It can be appreciated that these dimensions are proportionsare illustrative only.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, where consideredappropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures toindicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the examples described herein. However, it will beunderstood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the examplesdescribed herein may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have notbeen described in detail so as not to obscure the examples describedherein. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting thescope of the examples described herein.

It will be appreciated that the examples and corresponding diagrams usedherein are for illustrative purposes only. Different configurations andterminology can be used without departing from the principles expressedherein. For instance, components and modules can be added, deleted,modified, or arranged with differing connections without departing fromthese principles.

Although the above principles have been described with reference tocertain specific examples, various modifications thereof will beapparent to those skilled in the art as outlined in the appended claims.

1. A protective shield, comprising: a transparent front panel; a pair oftransparent side panels; first and second clear flexible joints, eachjoint attaching one edge of the front panel to an edge of one of theside panels and including a flexible portion to permit the side panelsto be rotated relative to the front panel to configure the protectiveshield; and a plurality of mounting clips, each mounting clip configuredto support a respective one of the panels and to provide a downwardlyfacing surface to engage an upper surface on which the protective shieldis placed.
 2. The protective shield of claim 1, wherein the clearflexible joints each comprise a pair of rigid strips affixed to theadjacent panels and a central flexible strip attached to the rigidstrips to provide flexibility.
 3. The protective shield of claim 1,wherein the clear flexible joints are affixed along the entire length ofthe edges of the panels to which they are attached.
 4. The protectiveshield of claim 1, wherein each mounting clip comprises a pair ofupstanding walls defining a slot into which a panel is inserted and abase comprising the downwardly facing surface.
 5. The protective shieldof claim 1, wherein each mounting clip comprises an attachment layer onthe underside of the base to work with the upper surface to create abond.
 6. The protective shield of claim 5, wherein the attachment layercomprises a releasable and reusable adhesive.